On Armistice day, my parents, Alain, and I went to go visit Aigues Mortes. We managed to get on the road at around 9, and it took us about an hour and a half to drive there, up past Salon de Provence and Arles. Drove past the restaurant we went to when we went to Stes. Maries de la Mer two years ago, where a woman changed her baby on the table in front of everyone (dad's comment "It wasn't just wet!")

We parked in the nearly empty parking lot and walked around town. Saw the main square Place St. Louis, visited the church Notre Dame des Sablons, tried to walk around the ramparts, but they were closed as it was a holiday. It's a holiday, i.e. a day tourists are likely to be free to come. Let's close!

We saw the outside of the Chapelle des Pénitents Gris, then had a coffee.

Walked around some more, then had lunch at a small restaurant near the square. At around 3 we had run out of things to do, so drove home. Too bad the ramparts were closed.

Bought one of those poorly-translated guide books to the town, you know, the kind like "Nîmes" in French, English, Italian, German, and Spanish with a few pictures and stories for about 5€.

Reading it, I know exactly how it is written in the French version, due to some funny phrasing and not-quite-the-same-in-English metaphores.

All in all, a nice little side trip, but I certainly wouldn't want to live there. Every summer, invaded by touristes, all the rest of the year, nothing to do.

Plus, the houses "intra-muros" are dang expensive and I am sure come with all sorts of rules of what you can and cannot do. Wonder what everyone does for a living there.